Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Sequestration for Diplomas

A pair of bills (H-5277 and S-177) that would eliminate the requirement will be heard in front of the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee this afternoon and a number of prominent political groups in the state—including the RI ACLU, RI Legal Services, Young Voices and the RI Disability Law Center, are urging the legislation get approved.

“"The news of these scores across Rhode Island is sad,” said Rick Richards, a retired employee of RIDE's Offices of Testing, School Improvement and School Transformation. “It is very scary for students, parents and our society, but it is not at all surprising. With 40 percent of the 11th graders in danger of not graduating, every parent in this state has to know that this way of determining graduation can put their child in danger. And, as parents think this over, they should realize that, in a very real sense, this is a crisis manufactured by policy makers at RIDE.”

I confess I've under-emphasized this issue, but it just seems like high-stakes kabuki to me. Of course, it is extremely important that the right people rise to do their side of the kabuki, and I thank them for it.

I don't think Deb Gist really wants to see her graduation rates go down, so getting rid of this is truly a win-win.